At least, five persons were injured at a construction site yesterday when the 10,000-sitting capacity ongoing Immaculate Catholic Cathedral Church suddenly collapsed. The incident occurred when the workers were on break at the Church headquarters in Lokoja.
National Mirror gathered that had it been the workers were still working, it would have been disastrous. Sources hinted that those injured were eating and when the structure collapsed it was the bamboo tree and planks that scattered around that injured them. It was further revealed that the building collapsed as a result of structural defects.
Deputy Governor Yomi Awoniyi, who visited the site, ordered stoppage of work pending submission of report by the committee set up by government to establish the immediate cause of the collapse. Awoniyi described the collapse as unfortunate, saying it could have been caused by several factors, which he said, would be unraveled at the end of the committee’s investigation.
The deputy governor urged the committee made up of experts from the state government who will work with the resident engineers to speed up their work, disclosing that their submission will aid in preventing future occurrences.
He then sympathised with those injured and the church. In his remarks, Reverend Father Anthony Akande, the Cathedral Administrator, stated that the incident happened when the workers were on break, thanking God that no live was lost.
The clergy added, that eight engineers are supervising the project, adding that last week a team of visiting engineers of the church from Abuja gave a pass mark to the work already carried out, describing the incident as unfortunate. Those injured have been taken to Federal Medical Centre for treatment.
